Process and apparatus for hardening material



4 Sheets-Sheet I 1 INVENTOR Cfiarefzce ffl/'ayt m ATTORNEYS;

C. W. VOGT Filed- June l5, 1951 .Sufi

ffyApril 3, 1934.

PRocEss AND `APPARATUS Fon HARDENING MATERIAL April 3, 1934. y Q w, VOGT1,953,521

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR HARDENING MATERIAL Filed June 15, 1931 4Sheets-Sheet 2 i12/111211.11) @ld/'87309 W @Y ATTORNEYS.

4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Clarefz lfg ATTORNEYS April 3, 1934. c. w.voGT PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR HARDENING MATERIAL Filed June l5,v 1931April s, 1934. C w, VOST 1,953,521

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR -HARDENING MATERIAL FiledJune 15,' 1951 4sheets-sheet 4 1NvEN1'oR u, 1 Cla/'ence Il( Foy? ATTORNEYS PatentedApr.. 3, 1934 PROCESS AND lPlRl'lllUS FR HARDEN" ING MAlllERlilllLClarence W. Vogt, Louisville, Ky., assignor to Vogt llnsta'nt Freezers,incorporated, Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Delaware Application.lune l5, 193i, Serial No. 544,485

25 Claims.

This invention relates to the refrigerating oil materials, and moreparticularly to a process and apparatus in which the materials, forinstance, foods, ingredients of foods, etc., are'refrigerated throughthe action of heat transfer surfaces contacting therewith.

This invention is an improvement on the apparatus and process disclosedand broadly claimed in my prior Patents 1,810,740 and 1,810,864, datedJune .16, 1931, relating to the continuous forma tion of a wrapper, thecontinuous filling of the wrapper as formed, the hardening of thematerial within the wrapper, and the cutting of the wrapper and hardenedmaterial into sections. The

present invention is also an improvement upon the type of constructionshown in said patents in which there is employed a series of movablerefrigerant containing receptacles engaging the advancing material beingrefrigerated and in part 20 defining or controlling the cross-section ofthe material.

This application is a continuation in part oi my prior copendingapplication Serial No. 535,342, led May 6, 1931, to the extent that itinvolves a series of rotatable discs refrigerating thevmaterial treated.This invention also involves certain improvements in the construction,mounting and operation of the discs, shown in said last mentionedapplication.

In carrying out the present invention I may employ an arrangement ofducts through which the material is conveyed, and may refrigerate a gasand circulate it through the ducts as disclosed and broadly claimed insaid application'. As one important feature of my invention I secure asliding contact between a wall of the advancing article which preferablycomprises the encased material undergoing refrigeration and the surfacewhich conducts away the heat.

As a furtherfeature there is progressive sliding contact between thearticles and the heat removing surface, whereby the total amount of heatto be removed from the article is removed in re1- atively smallincrements by the progressively applied surfaces. A Another feature ofthe invention is the use of a plurality of sliding contact surfaces ofsuch size and so arranged that a portion of each of said 5o surfacescontacts with the article or a portion of the article to berefrigerated, and then progressively moves out of Contact with thearticle, and

'j is rechilled while the article comes into contact with another andsimilar surface, whereby I maintain a maximum temperature differential4between the heat conducting surfaces and the article to berefrigerated.

As a further important feature I provide a pair of refrigerated surfacesspaced apart to form a channel or trough therebetween to receive thearticle to be refrigerated, said receptacles being in the form of discsmounted coaxially and rotatableto give the sliding contact.

As a further important feature I provide two series of refrigeratedsurfaces arranged along opposite sides of the path of movement of thematerial, the surfaces of the two series being arranged alternately forsuccessive action on the material.

As a further feature I provide a new and improved construction ofrefrigerant receptacle, whereby the refrigerant action is moreeffectively applied to the material and the refrigerant is moreeffectively rechilled.

As a further feature I employ adjustable means for controlling thefrictional engagement v between the surface of the article and therelatively sliding, heat conducting surfaces.

Other important features and objects will be noted hereinafter or willbe apparent from a consideration of the following description and theaccompanying drawings.

In the accompanying drawings, there are illustrated certain features 'ofan apparatus embodying my invention and adapted for carrying out myimproved process.

In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus embodying my invention,certain of the parts being shown in vertical section.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the receiving portion of the apparatusshown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation on a larger scale of one of the discs shownin Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a vertical-transverse section on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1, buton a larger scale.

Fig. 5 is a section through one of the sealed refrigerant receptaclesshown in Figs. 3 and 4, but on a still larger scale.

Fig.'6 is a side elevation, partlyin section showing the arrangement fordriving the apparatus.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a further form ofapparatus.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of a and Fig. 9 is a transverse section on theline 9 9 of Fig. 7, but on a larger scale.

In the specific construction illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, Iprovide a duct 1,0 through which the refrigerant gas is circulated, andwithin portion of Fig. 7,

which are mounted the heat conducting members, and through which ductthe material passes. If the material is to be frozen or solidified inpackages or bricks of approximately one pint size, which would beapproximately one pound in weight if the material were solid and withoutsubstantial air content, the dimensions of such package or brick mightbe approximately I'I1/2 inches x 3 inches x 11% inches. The duct may beproportioned to encase the conveying means for handling packages of suchdimensions or for handling a bar which might be cut into bricks of suchdimensions. The duct is arranged in a substantially horizontal positionin a chamber 11.

Means are provided for withdrawing air or other gas from one end of theduct, refrigerating it and returning it to the opposite end. Such meansare illustrated as a pair of branch conduits 12 leading from oppositesides of the duct l0 adjacent the inlet end of the latter and connectedto a manifold 13 leading to a refrigerating chamber 14. Within thischamber is mounted any suitable means for lowering the temperature ofthe gas to the desired degree, such means being shown somewhatconventionally as refrigerant coils or grid 15.

,The opposite end of the chamber 14 is connected to the intake of a fanor blower 16 which delivers through a manifold 1'1 to a pair of branchconduits 18 communicating with the opposite sides of the duct 10 at thedelivery end of the latter.

I have referred only to a single duct 10, but it will be obvious thatthere may be a plurality of these ducts all receiving the gas from thesame chamber 14 and returning it thereto.

While I have shown the conveying apparatus encased in a duct with apositive countercurrent directional flow of the refrigerant and thematerial, this duct, as illustrated, is not essential to my presentinvention and may be dispensed with, particularly as many plants, suchas ice cream factories, are at present equipped with so-called hardeningrooms, provided with overhead refrigerating coils, and bunkers toeffectively cool the air in the hardening room.- These present bunkersin many cases may be used without alteration and the conveying andrefrigerating apparatus be installed in the space below the coils.Inasmuch as the heat dissipating Asurface of the conveying meanshereinafter described and which I have shown in Figs. l to 6 inclusiveis many times greater than the surface in contact with the encasedmaterial to be refrigerated, the natural air circulation of thehardening room may be depended upon for producing the desiredrefrigeration of the article, without a duct or positive aircirculation. The apparatus without the duct may have a somewhat reducedcapacity, but the advantages of lower cost and the greater accessibilitywould tend to overcome this difference in capacity of the apparatus. y

For advancing the material or articles I employ a bottom belt 19 and atop belt 20. These are preferably of metal and may be fitted with shortprongs in order to positively advance the articles or material `whilethey are being subjected `to refrigeration. These belts also aid, whennecessary, in holding such packages, articles or 'material in apredetermined cross-sectional form. The lower belt passes around pulleys21 and the upper belt passes around pulleys 22. The return run of thelower belt may be supported by idlers 23. The bottom belt may extendbeyond the chamber 11 or any extensions thereof. in order to receiveand/or deliver the material,

articles or packages to be refrigerated, or it may be, as shown,entirely within the chamber 11.

The heat conducting and dissipating means employed form the main featureof my present invention and in the form illustrated in Figs. l to 6there are provided a plurality of discs 24 mounted in upper and lowerseries and in coaxial pairs. The two discs of each pair engage andsupport the opposite sides of the encased material between the belts 19and 20, and the pairs of the upper and lower series are arrangedalternately so that substantially the entire side areas of the encasedmaterial are supported and refrigerated by these discs. Each disc, onthe surface away from the material, is provided with a plurality ofreceptacles 25 which may be cast integral with the disc or which may beaffixed thereto by welding, soldering or any other suitable means.

The `receptacles 25 are partially filled with a liquid, such as brine,preferably of a strength which will partially congeal at the operatingtemperature to be maintained within the chamber 11, and are providedwith caps 26 which may be of such flexibility that they may be forced ortapped in place to seal the receptacles, or which may be soldered overthe open ends of thev receptacles 25 after the liquid has been placedtherein. The receptacles as shown in Fig. 5 are not completely filled sothat space is left for expansion and contraction on freezing andthawing.

The two discs of each pair may be slidably mounted on a shaft 27. Thehubs of the discs may be provided with keyways 28 which engage withcorresponding feather keys 29 in recesses in the shaft 27 in the usualmanner. Each pair of discs 24 may be provided with means for drawing theopposing faces of the discs toward each other. As illustrated in Fig. 4,this may consist of tension springs 30, one end of each spring beingsecured to a corresponding lug 31 on one of the pairs of discs, and theother end of the spring being seated in the base of an adjustable wingscrew 32. The purpose of these springs is to insure a Contact betweenthe inside surfaces of the disc and the outside of the package orarticle being refrigerated.

Preferably the first pair of discs which engages the material at thereceiving end is not provided with these spring tension members, but ismounted in fixed relative position on the shaft 27, the reason for thisbeing that it is not the intention to automatically accommodate packagesof various thicknesses, but to make the articles conform in thickness,as well as in height, to a predetermined size. This is especiallydesirable where the article to be refrigerated is sold by volume, suchas is usual with ice cream. where it would be obviously a disadvantagefor the apparatus to produce irregular or non-uniform packages at anygiven setting.

I have found in the case of partially frozen ice cream, that after thecolumn has been subjected to the `refrigerating action of one pair ofdiscs there is sufficient case hardening of the outside surfaces so asto eliminate any danger of' compressing the column by the engagement ofthe column with the succeeding pair of discs.

It will also be apparent that if all of the discs were spaced exactlythe same distance apart on the shaft and mounted in exact alignment,that the flexibility provided by the springs 30 could be dispensed with.However it is also apparent that with this yielding arrangement theassembly and the alignment of the discs need not be so accurate becauseany misalignment will be automatically compensated for.

The discs 24 are provided with annular projections or flanges 33 whichon the upper series may serve as supports for the return run of the beltand on the lower series for the forward run of the belt 19. Inrefrigerating material of barlike form or for long articles spanningacross two or more pairs of discs of the same series, the belts 19 and20 may be eliminated altogether.

The shafts 27 are journaled in suitable brackets or bearings 34 which inturn are mounted on channels or any suitable frame 35.

In Fig. l I have shown diagrammatically a motor 36 with reductiongearing 37 and suitable chain drive to upper and lower belt driving`pulleys 38 and 39 respectively. The discs 24 may be driven by suitablebevel gearing or may be driven as shown through a chain 40 and sprockets41. A takeup sprocket 42 is shown near the receiving end to compensatefor any stretch present in the chain.

The construction above described may be employed for the freezing ofmaterial of various kinds, but preferably either in packaged or encasedform. If individual packages are employed they may be fed in successionthrough the end wall of the chamber 1l to the position where they willbe engaged by the belts 19 and 20. For purposes of illustration I haveshown the apparatus as used for the progressive freezing of a continuousbar or stream of plastic material fed into, through and out of theapparatus. This part of the apparatus is substantially as shown in myprior Patents 1,810,740 and 1,810,864 and includes means for supportinga roll 45 of paper or other analogous flexible or elastic sheetmaterial, and progressively bending it as fed into substantially channelshape so as to cover the lower belt 19 and form continuous side wallsengaging the discs 24 and conning the material. These side walls may beslightly higher than the bar of material to be frozen and the upperedges may be folded over and pressed onto the top of the material by theupper belt.

Extending into the channel shaped strip is a receptacle 46 open at thebottom and having a lateral opening equalling the desired cross-sectionof the material and facing in the direction of the travel of theoperating flights of the belts.

The liquid, semi-liquid or plastic material to be frozen or hardened isdelivered through a conduit 47, and variations in the rate of deliveryin respect to the rate of advance of the belts may be taken care of by aplunger 48 which may move up and down in an upper extension of thereceptacle 46. The material is progressively delivered under pressureand the plunger 48 may be of such weight as to maintain the desiredpressure. The material after being hardened is delivered from thechamber 11 and may be received by a conveyor 49 in connection with whichmay be employed any suitable means for subdividing the bar into sectionsof the desired shape. I have illustrated such a subdividing mechanism lnthe prior patents above referred to.

In the use of the apparatus for freezing ice cream, fruit juices or thelike, it is preferable that the material delivered through the conduit47 be previously partly frozen, but not to such an extent but what itmay be caused to readily flow, particularly with the application ofenough pressure.

Each of the discs employed has only a portion of its operating surfacein heat conducting relationship to the material and the major portionexposed to the direct action of the cold air circulated in the duct orin the room or chamber 11. 'I'he partially "frozen brine or the ice andsalt mixture in the ltubes 25 does not rise in temperature appreciablyby abstracting heat from the material, but is partially melted andabsorbs the heat as latent heat. As the successive portions of the discmove away from the material the partially melted brine ceases to absorbheat, but gives up the heat to'the cold air, and the brine is refrozen.Thus a substantially uniform temperature is maintained along the lengthof the passageway and the heat is abstracted in comparativey smallincrements. The discs have a wiping or sliding contact with the encasedmaterial and this causes a more effective rate of heat abstraction thandoes more stationary surface Contact.

Each portion of the disc as it comes into contact with the material hasa movement substantially transverse to the movement of the material andthen moves along with the latter and leaves the surface by again movingtransversely. This causes a very slight tendency toward a Weaving or upand down movement of the material by frictional contact of the casingwith the discs. This causes or tends to cause breaking of ice forming inthe interior of the mass, and facilitates the breaking up or looseningof the casing of frozen material tending to form along the sides of themoving body of material in advance of the final freezing of theinnermost portion, and thus the rate of heat transfer is increased. Themajor portion of each disc while in contact with the casing of thematerial is moving lengthwise of the apparatus and therefore the discsmay serve as the sole means for advancing the material, and the belts 19and 20 may, in some cases, be discarded.

The discs being mounted alternately along opposite sides of thematerial, may be so spaced as to substantially cover the entire sidesurfaces of the casing of the material, but the exposed portions betweensuccessive discs are subjected to the direct withdrawal of heat by theair circulated through the duct or from the overhead coils. In somecases guides may be mounted between adjacent discs so as to formsubstantially continuous side walls for the material, but this is notordinarily necessary and is not desirable except possib`y atvtheentrance end of the apparatus where the thin side walls may needadditional support before the material has begun to harden.

In Figs. '7, 8 and 9 I have illustrated an apparatus similar in manyrespects to that above described, but the discs are made hollow andbrine is circulated through them instead of the plates being thin withseparate closed brine receptacles. TheA discs may be constructed asshown particularly in Fig. 9 and brine may be delivered through one endof the shaft 27a and then deflected by transverse partitions 50 andthrough ports into the hollow discs 24a. through all of the successivediscs mounted upon the same shaft.

Each disc may have its inlet and outlet ports, adjacent to each otherand separated by a radial transverse partition 51 so that the brine ineach disc is caused to flowlsubstantially the entire distance around theshaft, as indicated by the arrows in the disc shown in section in Fig.7.

Journals 52 for the shafts may be mounted on transversely extendingframe members 53 and all of the hollow shafts for the discs may be con-Thus the brine may ow nected by branch conduits 54 leading at one end toa brine supply manifold 55. A similar manifold and branch conduits areemployed at the opposite side of the apparatus for the outflow of thebrine.

The operation of the discs and the other details illustrated may besubstantially the same as in the form first described.

I have not shown any air circulation in this construction as there is acontinuous supply of brine to and from the apparatus and this may berechilled by any suitable refrigerating apparatus.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A freezing apparatus, including means for advancing material along apredetermined path, and a series of separate refrigerant containersarranged along said path and having heat conducting walls acting insuccession on the material to abstract heat therefrom.

2. A freezing apparatus, including means for advancing material along apredetermined path, and a series of refrigerant containers arranged atspaced points along the path, and each having a wall of the container insliding engagement with the casing of the material.

3. A freezing apparatus, including means for advancing along apredetermined path the encased material to be frozen, and a series ofrotatable discs along said path and engaging in succession with thecasing of said material.

4. A freezing apparatus, including means for advancing along apredetermined path the encased material to be frozen, and a series ofrotatable discs along said path and each having an axially facing endsurface, said surfaces engaging in -succession with the casing of thematerial during the advance of the latter.

5. A freezing apparatus, including a pair of coaxial rotatable discshaving flat opposed substantially parallel end surfaces forming apassage therebetween for the material to be frozen, each of said discshaving a refrigerant containing chamber.

6. A freezing apparatus, including a pair of coaxial refrigerated discsspaced apart and in heat interchanging relationship with opposite sidesof the material to be frozen, means for advancing the material along arectilinear path between said discs, and means for rotating said discsduring the advance of the material.

7. A freezing apparatus, including a pair of coaxial discs spaced apartand in heat interchanging relationship with opposite sides of thematerial to be frozen during the advance of the latter along arectilinear path, and means for rotating .said discs during the advanceof the material,

each of said discs having means for refrigerating thesurface thereofopposite to the material.

8. A freezing apparatus, including a pair of coaxial discs spaced apartand in heat interchanging relationship with opposite sides of thematerial to be frozen during the advance of the latter along arectilinear path, and means for rotating said discs during the advanceof the material, each of said discs having a refrigerant receptacle onthe side thereof opposite to the surface exposed to the material.

9. A freezing apparatus, including a pair of coaxial discs spaced apartand in heat interchanging relationship. with opposite sides of thematerial tobe frozen during the advance of the latter along arectilinear path, and means for rotating said discs during the advanceof the material, each of said discs being hollow for the circulation ofrefrigerant therethrough.

10. A freezing apparatus, including a pair of coaxial discs spaced apartand in heat interchanging relationship with opposite sides of thematerial to be frozen during the advance of the latter along arectilinear path, and means for rotating said discs during the advanceof the material, said discs being relatively movable toward and fromeach other.

11. A freezing apparatus, including a pair of coaxial discs spaced apartand in heat interchanging relationship with opposite sides of thematerial to be' frozen during the advance of the latter along arectilinear path, means for rotatingsaid discs during the advance of thematerial, said discs being relatively movable toward and from eachother, and resilient means for pressing them toward the material.

12. A freezing apparatus, including a pair of coaxial refrigerated discsspaced apart and in heat interchanging relationship with opposite sidesof the material to be frozen during the advance of the latter along arectilinear path, means for rotating said discs during the advance ofthe material, and a belt extending between said discs for supporting andadvancing the material along said path.

13. A refrigerating apparatus, including two series of rotatablerefrigerant containing elements having their axes upon opposite sides ofthe path of movement of the encased material to be refrigerated, theelements of one series being arranged alternately with those of theother, and all of said elements having sliding surface contact with thecasing of the material.

14. A refrigerating apparatus, including two series of rotatable heatconducting elements having their axes upon opposite sides of the path ofmovement of the encased material to be refrigerated, the elements of oneseries being arranged alternately with those of the other, and all ofsaid elements having sliding surface contact with the casing of thematerial, means for refrigerating said discs, and means for advancingthe material into engagement with said'elements in succession.

15. A refrigerating apparatus, including two series of rotatable heatconducting elements having their axes upon opposite sides of the path ofmovement of the encased material to be refrigerated, the elements of oneseries being arranged alternately with those of the other, and all ofsaid elements having sliding surface contact with the casing of thematerial, and means for refrigerating the surface of each elementopposite to the surface juxtaposed to the material.

16. A refrigerating element, comprising a rotatable disc having anaxially facing surface for heat abstracting relationship to an advancingj material, and a plurality of refrigerant receptacles carried by saiddisc upon the opposite surface thereof.

17. A refrigerating element, comprising a rotatable disc having anaxially facing surface for heat abstracting relationship to an advancingmaterial, a plurality of refrigerant receptacles carried by said discupon the oppositesurface thereof, and means for circulating arefrigerant in contact with said refrigerant receptacles.

18. A refrigerating apparatus, including a duct, a plurality ofrotatable heat conducting elements arranged within said duct along thelength thereof, means for circulating a refrigerated gas through saidduct, and means for advancing the retaper material through said duct inheat interchanging relationship With said elements in succession.

19. A refrigerating apparatus, including a duct,

a plurality of rotatable heat conducting elements arranged within saidduct along the length thereof, means for circulating a refrigerated gasthrough said duct, and means for advancing the material through saidduct in heat interchanging relationship with axially facing surfaces ofsaid elements.

20. A refrigcrating apparatus, including a duct, a plurality of discsmounted within said duct and spaced apart along the length thereof andadapted to have heat interchanging relationship in succession withmaterial advanced through the duct, a refrigerant receptacle carried byeach of said ducts and projecting in an axial direction from the surfaceof the disc opposite to the material, and means for circulating arefrigerated gas through said duct in contact with said re ceptacles.

21. A refrigerating apparatus for encased ina terial, including a pairof belt conveyors having spaced parallel runs for engagement withopposite sides of the casing of the material to be refrigerated and foradvancing the latter, and a series of heat conducting elements arrangedat spaced points along the path of movement of the material andv eachhaving sliding contact with another side of the casing of the material.

22. A refrigerating apparatus for encased material, including a pair ofbelt conveyors having spaced parallel runs for engagement with oppositesides of the casing of the material to be refrigerated and for advancingthe latter, and a series of rotatable heat conducting elements arrangedat spaced points along the path of movement of the material, and eachhaving an axially facing flat surface mounted in heat abstractingrelationship to another surface of the casing of the material.

v23. An apparatus for chilling a comestible, in-n cluding means foradvancing a tubular casing containing a continuous bar of thecomestible, and a pair of coaxial discs having at end surfaces engagingopposite sides of said casing, adapted for the circulation ofrefrigerant therethrough, and adapted to be rotated to advance thecomestible and casing.

214i. ln apparatus for refrigerating an encased comestible, includingmeans for advancing a stream o f the comestible, two series ofrefrigerating elements each including a pair of hollow coaxial discsengaging opposite sides of said casm lng, the discs of one series' beingarranged above and alternately with those of the other, and means forcirculating refrigerant through said discs.

25. The process of refrigerating a material, which includes advancingthelatter along a predetermined path, and sliding heat conducting elementstransversely of the path of movement in heat abstracting relationship tothe material during said movement.

CLARENCE VI. VOGT.

